Wednesday, April 21, 2004

Whew. Just reading last night's post gives me a headache. I'll keep it short today. It's around 4pm, I've played about 320 hands, and the losing streak continues. I'm down about $30 on the day. I was playing well, grinding out wins, then AQ hit me in the face a few times.

I think I'm playing the hand incorrectly. In late position, I usually raise to at least $2. In early position, I'll often limp. Sometimes I'll call a raise to $3 or less if I've already limped in early position. I think I need to stop doing this.

The first time I had AQ today, I was in middle position and I bet $2. I got one caller in early position. Flop is T, Q, Q rainbow and I'm thrilled. He checks, and I check as well, figuring this hand is worth a slowplay. Turn is 3c, officially killing any flush possiblity. Another check to me, and I check again, hoping that the other player will hit something minor on the river and bet into me. The river is 5d, and the player bets $4. I consider pushing in, but only raise to $8. Then the other player re-raises all-in, and I call. I was sure I was going to win this hand, putting the other player on a worse Q or a two pair. Instead, he had TT, and was slowplaying me the whole way.

I think both of us played this hand pretty well. There was really nothing I could have done. If I had bet on the flop, I am sure he would have simply called rather than raised. Even if he had raised, I don't think I could have laid down top set with Ace kicker on Party.

A while after that kick in the gut, I was dealt KK and bet into by two players! I pushed all-in, not respecting the two previous raisers. Well, the first guy had KK as well, and the second had AA. Nothing hit the board, but the guy with AA had a short stack and only took about $4 each from me and the other caller. If you're going to lose with KK, that's not a bad way to go.

Finally, I was getting ready to quit for the day, and I'm dealt the dreaded AQ again in late position. It's folded to me, and I bet $3. The button calls, but the big blind, who's been playing like a loose maniac, raises to $7. I put him on a bad Ace or something suited, and raise all-in. The button folds, the raiser calls. The flop is all rags, and the raiser takes down the pot with, again, TT.

If it wasn't for that last hand, I would have only lost $9 despite getting KK cracked and losing a huge pot to a guy that flopped a boat. Overall I'm not disappointed with my play, I'm just frustrated that the last 3,000 hands haven't gotten me anywhere.

Enough poker for now. I may play a bit more today, but I'm going to work on my book for a while first.

Once again, if you are thinking about signing up for Party Poker, you can get $25 for free by using my bonus code, FOZ. Thanks!